There.com links 2D/3D chat worlds

[Jeff]

Poor There.com. It's been around since 2003 when we first covered it -- long before Second Life was snatching headlines. Today, most people have heard of Second Life, but There.com has fallen from sight.

Mashable reports that There.com is working hard to grab some headlines again, this time with a trio of upgrades. They now provide better Japanese language support, a version for Mac OS X users, and a lightweight IM client that lets users communicate with friends outside of There.com's virtual world.

According to Mashable, There.com claims that ThereIM is the industry’s first instant messaging tool that allows members to travel between its virtual world and a 3D instant messaging application that sits on their desktops.

ThereIM will extend the avatar experience for members by maintaining their in-world identity while communicating with friends that are in or outside of their 3D world. In addition, ThereIM will allow members to change clothing, use emotes, shop and instantly teleport into the world. ThereIM has been in closed beta since early this year and is expected to be released this year.

So apparently, ThereIM is vaporware at the moment. No word as to whether ThereIM will allow connectivity with other IM networks like AIM, WLM or Yahoo.

[Gandalf]

I had no idea that There.com was still around! All you read about in the media is Second Life, or sometimes bits about Google's (not so) Lively.